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bought unlocked UK iphone - what should I do?

swanseastu

swanseastu

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 18, 2007
87
0
Swansea, Wales UK
Hi Ive bought an unlockled Iphone from Ebay and its arrived today.

I dont know what method its been unlocked with ( nor does the seller) Im wondering whether its worth running one of the current unlock options so I can start afresh with it and it makes it futureprrof for me then.

Any suggestions?

At the moment Its got installer and the usual Iphone apps on it.

Ive put my UK vodafone sim in it and it gets a signal and acknowledges VODA as the network, I can surf via the phone and send txts etc, but at the moment it come up with call failed andbeeps 3 times when I try to make a voice call or dial my voicemail. Hope its not blocked in any way.

Any suggestions would be appreciayed - My mind is telling me to run one of the unlockers on it, but worried about bricking...
 
swanseastu said:
Ive put my UK vodafone sim in it and it gets a signal and acknowledges VODA as the network, I can surf via the phone and send txts etc, but at the moment it come up with call failed andbeeps 3 times when I try to make a voice call or dial my voicemail. Hope its not blocked in any way.
Click to expand...
That could be blocked. You could ring Vodafone or O2 and ask them to check the IMEI number to see if it is legit.
 
http://www.unlockme.co.uk/blacklist.html
Orange & O2
If you place an active orange or O2 sim into a blacklisted handset you phone will not show any signal strength at all! If the handset is a Nokia then a "SIM card registration failed" message will also be displayed. If your handset is an Ericsson then an "Invalid Mobile" message will be displayed. For most other manufacturers the handset will simply show no signal!

Vodafone & T-Mobile
If you place an active Vodafone or T-Mobile sim into a blacklisted handset, the phone will appear to function perfectly UNTIL you try to make an outgoing call. When you try to call out from the handset you will hear a sequence of beeps and then the call will be dropped!!
Click to expand...
I think it is stolen and has been blacklisted
 
No not really. This is the trouble with buying stuff off eBay. I always try and buy locally so that I can test the goods before handing over the £££s
 
Or the phone could just need a full settings reset!

After you unlock sometimes the phones need a reset for all functions to work!

so try it!

Settings>general>reset all settings
 
put it in recovery mode

put it in recovery mode and then unlock it using ziphone :D
 
Don't unlock it again if you don't need to.

Just reset the settings. If that fixes it great.

If not restore and use iLiberty+ NOT ZiPhone as its very risky! or if you have a mac you can use the safest method which is pwnage.
 
If it is a blacklisted stolen phone, put in a complaint first to the seller then raise a dispute via eBay, demanding a refund of your money.

Then buy a phone from O2 and unlock/jailbreak it yourself.

At least that way you've got someone to go to if you get future troubles.
 
It is important to realise that this can be caused by the unlock!

It may well be that the phone is blacklisted - but until you try a settings reset and then if that doesn't work a restore then you can't be sure.

Don't assume the worst!
 
swanseastu said:
I can surf via the phone and send txts etc, but at the moment it come up with call failed andbeeps 3 times when I try to make a voice call or dial my voicemail. Hope its not blocked in any way.
Click to expand...

I've got the same.
Difference is - that my phone is legal (I mean not stolen for sure).
My husband upgraded it to 1.1.4 - it was working properly for may be 1 week. After that all happened somehow. I couldn't call just any number.
I can accept incoming calls, accept/send SMS, mail, surf internet.
Can't get updates (may be there is another reason for it) and can't make any outgoing calls - even for the service provider.

That is on China mobile SIM.

I thought something wrong with 1.1.4 - then I came to Hong Kong - with HK Peoples it's working FINE!!! I thought something wrong was with my cutted SIM (for 1.1.2). But it is not working in China again!!!

How it can be? Working or not - depending on the operator???
 
well i have tried all the suggestions (thanks everyone) and its still not working.

tried an orange sim in it tonight and that comes up with no service, so looking at one of the earlier links, it would point to an imei blocked phone.


been in touch with seller and he refunding so fingers crossed.

stu
(thanks again everyone)
 
If he sold you a stolen phone then he would not refund you.

I personally think your just not doing the reset or the unlock correctly...
 
spinstorm said:
If he sold you a stolen phone then he would not refund you.

I personally think your just not doing the reset or the unlock correctly...
Click to expand...

Whilst not an expert, not a numpty either, so pretty sure i was following the relvant guidance posted here - especially when orange sim = no service, but uk voda sim = service for txt and data but no voice ====imei blocked looking at the relevant guidance links posted.

anyway, that aside, ive been to the sellers house this evening and got my £200 back and an apologu - no admission though of theft or missing phone though.

even better bought a 16gig one from a more reliable source that arrives tomorrow.

good luck to those still having problems though.

stu
 
For future use:
UK mobile phone users can check if a phone is network barred by using this text service (costs £3).
http://www.checkmend.com/sms_mobile_checking
I've used it before and it works fine...you could also ring the "original" network (O2 in this case) and ask them to check the IMEI number against their blacklist which they will normally do.
 
I hate to say this, but I know from experience that if you get the 3 beeps - that means the IMEI has been "blacklisted"

Happened to me on a K750i I bought on ebay a few years ago.
 
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